Chapter 7: Deeper Is the Wound







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Now with that done with, on with comments about this story. I think that I only have a few chapters left with this story and I would greatly appreciate some more reviews before I complete it. ^_^ Anyway, there's yet another twist/surprise in this chapter. Hehe, gotta read to find out what it is though. Well, with that said the same warnings as before apply to this part of the fic. Please review and/or give feedback about the NC- 17 ban. Thanks and on with the story.





Chapter 7: Deeper Is the Wound

Ruen sighed tiredly as he replaced the receiver and looked up at his two companions. "Kimmuriel will meet us no earlier than tomorrow evening." They were currently in Rai's apartment, the necromancer brewing some coffee in the kitchen while Ruen and Derek were seated at the dining table with the phone placed in front of them.

"Are you positive Ruen?" Rai asked as he sauntered into the dining room and set down two mugs in front of the vampires.

The red-eyed man nodded regretfully. "I'm sorry Taranthiel but he will not budge."

Rai still shuddered slightly at his true name, having not heard it in so long but pushed aside those feelings to deal with the matter at hand. "Damnit all." He murmured under his breath, slumping into his chair and closing his eyes. "I do not want to leave Wufei with them longer than we have to."

"Rai, we don't even know where to look yet." Derek stated as he placed a comforting hand over his lover's.

"Now that's where you're wrong." Ruen smirked. "It pays to have the Master of the Council at your side." He cleared his throat before starting to speak again. "When the rogues had attacked I had managed to catch a glimpse of their leader's face and let's say you would never believe who it was."

The American raised one eyebrow. "Enlighten me."

"Well. . ." Ruen locked eyes with his friend. "Let's start with me guessing that you do recall who Soji was."

Rai scowled. "Damn bastard."

Ruen chuckled. "Yep, you remember him. Anyway, apparently after you had played the role of Death and killed him, his partner. . ." The vampire held up a hand to prevent any questions. "Before you ask, Soji did have a partner working in the background and it appears that not only was this woman his colleague, she was his lover. With that fact, I'm sure that you can come to your conclusions as to why she's doing this."

"Revenge." Derek bit out, angered at the very thought that Soji could still haunt them in the afterlife. "What's her name and where can I find her? I will give her a painful and tormented death for daring to do this!"

The necromancer sighed and shook his head as he laid one calming hand on Derek's arm. "Derek, I can deal with this. It's not as if this was the first time that one of your kind has wanted my blood in revenge."

"But Rai-"

"Love, let me handle this." Rai then glanced over to his old friend. "Then it seems we have until the morrow to prepare for this. Can you have all the information to me by the morning?"

Ruen mulled over the request for a short moment before finally nodding. "I can but I must go out and gather the information myself. It will be dangerous business."

"I shall accompany you then. We will have more chance of surviving this ordeal if we are together." Answered the brunette with determination blazing in his icy gems. /I failed you last time Ruen. I will not this time./ "Derek, could you call up a few vampires you are sure can trust and are willing fight with us. Somehow I believe that we will need all the help we can get."

The blonde nodded, eyes boring in Rai's, his entire demeanor stating that he disapproved of the other going without him into potential danger.

It was then, as the tension was rising that there came a knock. Glad for the distraction, Rai stood and cautiously made his way to the door. "Who is it?"

"Just us itouto-chan." Called back Duo's voice.

Rai peeked through the peep hole to confirm this before opening the door. "Hey guys. Come on in." An electrical current ran along the frame of the door as the protection spell took in the other pilots' life force signatures before Rai ushered them inside. "Does anyone want something to drink? I just made some coffee."

Everyone accepted and Quatre followed the younger pilot into the kitchen as Heero, Duo, and Trowa joined Derek and Ruen in the living room. "So what are you guys doing here anyway Quatre?"

Quatre glanced up from where he was boiling some water for tea. "To tell the truth we were worried Rai. Is there anything wrong?"

Despite his new worries, a smile pulled at his lips and it was the first genuine smile Rai had given for a long time. "I'm fine now Quatre."

Sandrock's former pilot measured Rai's sincerity in his answer before breathing a breath of relief. "Good." Quatre fell silent and they worked in peace until the blonde spoke again. "There, the tea's finished. Coffee ready?"

Rai nodded and turned, holding three steaming cups in his hand but he almost dropped them when he saw that Quatre was holding two of his own. "Why do you have another cup?"

"For Wufei. I assumed that he would want. . ." Quatre trailed off in concern when he saw the wintry-eyed man wince. "What is it Rai? What happened?"

Quatre could practically see the walls resurrect themselves in Rai's eyes as the necromancer straightened and met his gaze with a cold one of his own. "Don't worry about it Quatre. Everything's being taken care of. Now come on, we should go back to the others." He paused as he was heading out. "And you won't need the other cup."

Once they had reached the group in the living room, Rai immediately handed out the drinks before taking his seat between Derek and Ruen. He smiled lovingly up at his lover when Derek wrapped an arm about his waist and then turned to speak with Ruen in hushed tones. "We leave in an hour's time."

"Alright." The white-haired vampire bit his lip as he pulled his legs up onto the couch and under himself. "Taranthiel, do you think that there is anyway to reverse the effects that took away the markings of my elven heritage?"

Rai frowned, of course he knew a way but he also knew of the consequences. "There is. In fact I could out right remove all traces of your forced vampiric nature."

"I would become a full elf again?!" Ruen asked breathily, leaning forward.

"You would." The necromancer's frown deepened. "But the magic is of forbidden origin. I would have to argue this with the Necromancy Council."

"Could you? I know that this is asking so much of you but. . ."

Rai cut in. "You are already doing so much for me Ruen. I will see as to what I can do concerning this matter and if I cannot restore you fully then I will do what I can."

"That is all I ask."

They traded smiles and then the brunette sighed. "We should probably prepare to leave. The sooner we gather all the information the sooner we can find Wufei and bring him home. . .that is if he's still alive when we find him."

Ruen inclined his head in agreement and climbed to his feet, Rai following suit.

"If you'll excuse us, Ruen and I have some matters to attend to. We should be back in the early morning." Rai and the vampire vanished into the bedroom for nearly half an hour and when both came back in they were dressed in their coats. "I'll talk to everyone later. Bye Derek." The necromancer leaned down and gave the other a chaste, sweet kiss before hurrying out the door.

Derek let his eyes slip shut as he reclined against the couch and tried to push away the tears. /God, I beg of you, please let Rai be alright. Let him return to me. Please. I'll do anything./

Caught in his mental anguish, Derek missed the attack until he heard someone crash into an invisible barrier and his brown orbs flew open in shock to find Trowa sprawled out cold on the floor. The other pilots all had their weapons trained on the French man as an enchantment seemed to melt away from him and his facial features reverted to those of a vampire.

All were silent, staring down at the body apprehensively until a suspicious chuckle came from Derek. "Well, what do you know? Rai's spell did work." He snarled as he stood and hoisted the unconscious vampire off the ground and dark magic began to flow around him. His clothes and hair fluttered with a sourceless wind and his pupils melted away while fangs grew to show beneath his upper lip. Energy crackled all about him and Derek glowered and the magic seemed to spread to encase the one in his grasp. The energy abruptly triggered the lesser vampire's senses and within a second, the other's eyes had snapped open. "Explain yourself imposter. Where is Trowa?!"

The vampire shook as he clamped his mouth shut.

"You better realize that you have angered a Master now talk before I see it fit to torture you for the information." Derek hissed out, his fangs gleaming in the lamp light.

"He-he's with the other human."

Derek smirked callously. "And where, pray tell, would that be?"

"I-I don't know. M-my Master does no-not tell me these things." Despite the intensifying anger in the master vampire from the frustration, Derek could tell that his lesser was not lying.

Shrugging, the blonde nodded. "Then you are of no use to me any more." With a sickening snap, Derek dropped the other and stillness settled throughout the room like a heavy blanket.

At last, Heero broke out of his trance and stepped forward to kneel beside their attacker. Upon examining him, the Japanese man stifled a gasp. "He's neck is broken. He's dead."

Derek huffed nonchalantly. "I could have done much worse to that scum." The vampire focused his magic on his remaining friends to ensure that they were indeed who they appeared to be before speaking. "You should stay here for the night. It will be the safest option. Now I have some things to take care of."

"But Derek-"

"No!" Derek spat out, dangerous embers burning in his dark eyes. "You are not trained to do this. Let us handle it."

The men cringed in fear at the ferocity in their companion's voice and reluctantly they agreed.

"Just promise me Derek that you will find Trowa."

"I can promise that and no more Quatre. Now I really do have some work to do. You three may as well get as much rest as you can. I'll be sure to contact Rai about this."

Duo could see the pain in emanating from Derek and without another word, led his lover and Quatre into the bedroom so they could discuss their sleeping arrangement; although all three knew that they would not find any rest that night.

* * * * *

"Fuck!" Rai nearly threw his cell phone into the wall as he gripped it with bloodless fingers.

Ruen stopped walking, twisting around to stare at his companion with worry. "What?"

"They fuckin' took Trowa! That was a goddamn imposter in my living room and I didn't even know it!" The American wheeled around and slammed his fist into the nearby wall, blood welling up immediately.

Rushing to Rai's side, Ruen took the injured hand in his own but the necromancer's elven healing abilities were already closing up the cuts and stopped the blood flow. He watched this longingly, remember his own ability from so long ago before fixing his eyes with Rai's. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You were smart enough to instill protections not only around the apartment but around Derek and because of that he is safe. Besides, you had no way to know that the Trowa that walked in was not your friend. From what I gathered, the real Trowa must be really quiet and so it would naturally be difficult to see his imposter."

"But I should have checked." Rai murmured indignantly, berating himself mentally.

"Elven lord or not we are not infallible Taranthiel. It may have been a while since you made a mistake but you still make them. Let this go, we now have two people on the line and you are going to have to be fully focused on this task."

Slowly a forced smile grew on Rai's face as he gave a quiet laugh. "You are ever the voice of reason, my old friend. There has been nary a change in you since we last spoke those many years ago."

Ruen grinned. "Then it is good to know that I retained something of my old self. Now come, we have some work to do and people to save."





T.B.C.





Well, that's chapter 7 for ya. This story should be completed soon so stayed tuned. Feedback is greatly appreciated concerning both this story ad the petition. Thanks.